Liquid distributing system



` INVENTOR. @M5/545;@

A. B. HODGES LIQUID DISTRIBUTING SYSTEM Filed Dec.' 23, 1938 June 17, 1941.

Patented June 17, 1941 UNITED# `-,STAT as Param @mcgj.; Y i 112,245,6e5lff`f l f v LIQUIDDISTRIBUTINGSYSTEM Albert B.. Hodges;Chicago,V Ill., assigner to International' Filter Co... Chicago, Ill., a corporation ofjDelaware Application December 23, 17938; Seri-al No.y 247,351

ici-aims. (cigzaQ-as) l'his invention relatesv to liquid distributing systems with discharge nozzles. andf in particular to such systemsnused; in: biological trickling filters tor distributing sewage therein', and is directed to an improvementtherein toeimprove the: operation thereof. f

Sewage distributQlS for the' purpose indicated are4 either made in the form otA a stationaryl pipe system equipped with nozzles which are fixed with respect to the filter bed and usually. receive sewage under a varying head sothat. they discharge overa varyingA area.; or they are in. the formI of, a combinationl ot stationary* feed inlet and movablel distributing; part, generally having rotating; arms which are. equipped with. spaced nozzles and,Vv are driven byy the reactionof the sewage discharged throughv the. nozzles. A ro.- tary distributor of the latter kind is shown and described for illustrative purposes.`

The sewage. received in the distributor of a biological, trickling filter is. ordinarily-"a product of preliminary clari-ncation. or asimilar process, yet it stillV contains somecoarse floating matter that mayclog a nozzle and also: there is restriction of openings from thel building; up.r ofv lms and accumulations of sludgel and the like onlsolid surfaces contacted by the sewage, both due to purely mechanical adhesion and due to more complicated,k physical and biologicalprocesses...

vAny stoppage is. very undesirable because it makes. the cross-sectional area. of the nozzles variable, whereas. that area should beconstant sov thatl an optimum rate of continuous dosage can` be calculated and maintained.l Italso causes uneven dosage over the areal of the bed which is objectionable for several reasons and if the stoppage or 4restriction becomes severe it may notv be possible todeliver the full flow of sewage.

In order to checkat least such extreme lcon-- ditions, 'operators of sewage plants heretofore were required to clean distributor nozzles from time to time, and for this purpose it was customary that the operator scrape out every distributor nozzle separately with. some hand operated tool. This is exceedingly unpleasant work which in most. plants is only done when. it be.- comes imperative, and as aresult most plantsI operate` withA uneven distribution. much of. the time. It is to be kept in mind that uneven distribution of sewage over the bed and the consequent uneven distribution of Working load leads to uneven and poorer biological operation and poorer effluent.

It is va primary objectv ofthis. invention to provide a biological filter. and afilter. distributor Whichyare free from such shortcomings, in--order to improve both the operationr of theiilter and thel maintenance of the lter distributor. An'- other object is to-k provide a liquid nozzlevwhi'ch can be readily` and eilicientlycleaned bymechanical: means. Another object is to provide simple mechanical means wherebyy the' distributor nozzle of a sewage plant may be' readily and frequently cleaned either manually or automatically.

` In the drawing, Fig. l shows one embodiment of theinvention, partlyin section. Fig. Zis an enlarged detail from Figi. Fig. SY-is aver-oss sectionlv through the detail shown in Fig.; 2,` taken along lines 3-3. Fig. 4 is a cross section through the detail shown in. Fig- 2, takenn alongvv lines Numeralv ID- stands for a tricklingfilter having filter bottom IlI, underdrain I2 and lter bed IBS, boundedvby wall I4. Sewage to. loe/filtered is received' through feedupipe liwhich'joins the stationaryfdistributor base` |56'. The latter eX- tends above lter'bed I3', where itA forms' a support of and inlet to the rotating Vmember IIthav.- ing a suitable number of distributor arms 181-. The arms. may be braced orsupportedy as.l by Wirev ropes: I:9-'. Underdrain `I2; has. openings 20 for air and outlets 2I for filtered sewage and Waste. carbon dioxide. Y

Distributor nozzles 22, shown at the right. hand arm,-` Itv in Fig. 1, andmore clearlyrshown ina Figs.

2; and. 35,. are suitably. spaced along: eachl arm. I8

in full accordance with Welli knownprinciples as to appropriate dosage and distribution.. As referred to' above,A rotation of arms t8. results from thereaction of the discharge oi sewage through said nozzles. Thel rotation is counter'- clockwise in a plan view: of the,v apparatus of Fig. 1.; that is, from left toright inthe View.I of Fig..3 and from right toleit in Fig. 4.

Each nozzle 22 maybe-integralA with or'suitably. vassociated -With a member 23 securedto; arm.r IB as by means of threadedY portion 24., Member. 23: mayvk carry a hinged spray plate'v 2.5. of well known construction. Furthermore-,eyes or similarmeans .26 are provided: preferably integral with ror-ysuitably associated with members23.; anda rod 21. is rotatably securedto armv I8 by. means of eyes 26. This rod mayfbe slotted as atA 28 (Fig. 3). It runs substantially parallelgto arm I8, from the innermost nozzle. 22 to a point preferably a short .distance beyond theend.- of arm I8, where a pin 219 thatI may beweighted as at 3B, is rigidlyv Xed to the rod. Wiper means 3.I are associated with rod.,21^,rsoas torespond to rotationo this rod, asior-instanceby;y means arrangement of this type is preferred because it keeps the several wipers 3| in centered pos1tion regardless of differential extension or contraction of arm I8 and rod 21, and other factors of disturbance.

In operation, nozzles 22 are most simply and efficiently cleaned by turning rod 21 by moving pin 29 so that wipers 3| enter the nozzles 22. Thereafter, rod 21 is turned to withdraw'cleaner 3| to such position as allows unrestricted flow -or spray out of nozzles 22. Inasmuch as any distributor arm in filters of medium and large size may carry asubstantial number of nozzlesmoreV than one hundred are frequently provided on a single arm--it will be appreciated that a combinationas described provides a considerable saving in working time and eort that is otherwise` spent on manually cleaning the nozzles. More important, however, is the fact that as nozzles are so readily and quickly cleaned and this withoutv unpleasant work, they will be kept in condition for uniform flowrand distribution all of the time, with consequent better purification results. Y

Pin 29 and co-operating parts may be actuated manually or by automatic means, for instance as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. A trip arm 32 is suitably provided, for instance on top of lter wall |4 and in operative position relating to pin 29. Trip arm 32 may: be either xed or may be removably arranged by means of guide 33 and motor 34 or the like. Whenever arm I8 passes over trip 32, the latter being in operative position, pin 29 will be tilted as shown in Fig. 4 (center position', indicated in dotted lines). The power required for such tilting or shifting is very slight in comparison with the normal momentum of the reaction drive, so that the latter may serve to actuatethe mechanism as shown. In Fig. 2, trip 32 is shown in withdrawn position so that pin 29 willpass it.

It may be moved forward to trip the pin 29 andl operatethe cleaning mechanisms when desired to do so. As, referred to, this may beautomatically done and at predetermined periods by motor 34, or it may be manually set in and out. Also as referred to, trip 32 and associated parts may be omitted and pin or arm 29 moved manually. A weight 30 is shown on the end of arm 29 to return and hold wipers 3| in withdrawn position after each cleaning operation. Instead of pin 32 mounted on wall i4 and co-acting with arm 29 etc., as described, a motor reducer can be mounted at the end of arm I8 to operate rod 21. This `motor can be started by a switch actuatedfroml a trip at the filter wall, and can be self-reversing or self-stopping, the restl ofthe equipment being otherwise suitably modified to co-operate with such a motor.

- The structure and operation illustrated and described are obviously susceptible of various changes without departing from the scope of the invention. As illustrated, the rod 21 and associated parts are shown outside the distributor arm i8 and for several reasons, including accessibility both for installation and inspection this is preferable, but they can be within the pipe i8 as well. All such changes are intended to be covered by the appended claims.

'It will also be appreciated that nozzles and/or auxiliary means as herein disclosed can be made for and attached to existing distributors, forming a new article of manufacture, for use in combination with sewage distributors. They may be made sovthat rod 21 is adapted tobe vsupported by and hinged in eyes 26, or in any other suitable manner.

I claim: 1. As an article of manufacture for use in combination with a sewage distributor, a member flanged and threaded nozzle member associated with said first-named member, and nozzle cleaning means associated with the first named member and comprising wiper means of shape adapted toiregister with said nozzle member, and means adapted to vengage said wiper means.

2. As an article of manufacture for use in combination with a sewage distributor, a threaded nipple having a nozzle formed therein, a hinge member secured to said nipple and positioned adjacent said nozzle, and a'wiper adapted to register with said nozzle and to be hinged on said hinge member.l

3. In sewage treatment Vapparatus a sewage distributor, at least one tubular arm insaid distributor, discharge. openings spaced along said arm, a nozzle member permanently tted into each ofV said openings, a nozzle in each of said nozzle members, a hinge member rigidly secured to each of vsaid nozzle members, a wiper member pivotally secured to each of said `hinge members in centered position with respect to the respective nozzle, each of said wiper members comprising parts adapted to' be inserted in and to lbe withdrawn from therespective nozzle, andan actu- Y atorrod substantially as long as said arm, rotatable and laterally slidable with respect to said arm and adapted to control all of said wiper means of said arm with respect to-their being inserted in or withdrawn from the respective nozzles. Y

V4. Apparatus as-claim`ed in claim 3 wherein each of saidjhinge members is adapted to loosely and rotatably-secure the' rod to the arm. Y 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 comprising means at the end of said rodto rotate said rod. `6. In combination with a sewage treatment distributor arm provided with aplurality of discharge nozzles spacedftherealong, means for periodically cleaning said'nozzles comprising cleaning arms adapted to penetrate'the nozzles, said arms being slidably mounted on arod held in spaced relationship to said distributor arm and substantially parallel'thereto, means for rotating said nozzle cleaning arms with rotation of said rod, means preventing Ylateral movement of said nozzlej cleaning armswith respect to the said nozzlecomprising Aprotuberances in spaced relationship'to vsaid nozzle and to each other and adapted' to center said cleaning arm with respect tothe said nozzle,V and means for .the periodic partial rotation of vsaid rod. '7. In combination with a sewage treatment distributor arm provided with a plurality of :discharge openings spaced along said arm, a nozzle in each said opening, a nozzle member rigidly securedto each said nozzlejand provided with a pair of raised eyes in spaced relationship to said nozzle and to each other, the axis of said eyes being substantially parallel to the axisl of the distributor arm, a rod slidably and rotatably mounted in said eyes extending substantially the length of the distributor arm, nozzle cleaning arms adapted for insertion into said nozzle longitudinally slidably mounted on said rod, one between the eyes on each nozzle member, which nozzle cleaning arms are adapted to rotate with the rotation of the said rod, and means for the periodic par- 5 tial rotation of said rod.

ALBERT B. HODGES. 

